Tune Up

 As you can see, a brake tuneup was in order.

Most of that muck was from a muddy ride last week.

Let's see if I can put it back together...

The brakes look pretty good for their age,

except this one spring.

clean as a whistle

The ol' trusties are working smoother now. The current grey Ultegra's 

have nothing on these old beauties... at least not in the design department.

Vroom, vroom!

My Nature Boy has arrived

 I went to Smart Bike Parts on Monday, hoping to test ride an All-City Nature Boy. They didn't have any regular NB's, just one NB Zona Ltd frame, that just happened to be my size. These aren't that easy to come by, particularly in a 49. The advantages of the Zona over a regular NB: better tubing, non-removable canti studs, 1/2 lb lighter (whatever, I'll soon make up for that), PF30 bottom bracket, a couple other minor differences, and last but not least... the color is actually nice, black and gold flake paint. 

     The other NB would have blended in with this couch... I wasn't overly excited about the prospect of a lime green frame. If you only want a NB frameset, you have to get the lime green one. The blackish- blue/white one only comes as a complete bike. I hadn't considered the Zona, until I came across this one. The photo doesn't do it justice, it's a beautiful frame. If it rides as good as it looks, we're going to get along great. The NB owners on the online cyclocross forums, all seem to love them. 

I will have to take some glamour shots, but until then...

  

    

Collaborative Bike Builds

Now this is an excellent idea: 718 Cyclery Collaborative Builds .  Pretty sure there are a couple of shops in Chicago, that would be willing to do something like this.  If I do have one or two things done at a shop for the Nature Boy, I will be asking if it's all right to hang around.

Went on my first long ride tonight, in months. Didn't leave until a little before 10pm and got back after 3am. It's was nice to have the paths and suburban streets, pretty much to myself.

I had a good time, but my bike has been bumming me out. It has proven to be pretty uncomfortable on long rides. The Mark V has more of a racing geometry than I care for and the frame is too big for me. It's pretty taxing to be so stretched out and it's definitely part of the source of my saddle problems.

Something isn't right with my drivetrain as well. Ever since I upgraded the rims and freewheel, it's been a beast to pedal (and far from smooth).

 I've decided that it's time for a new frame. I've been researching for a couple months and have set my sights on the All-City Nature Boy. I may change my mind, but it's at the top of the list right now.  I'm waiting for work to pick up, before I buy the frame. In the meantime, I've started collecting parts. Thankfully, I have a number of components hanging about that I've acquired over the years, so I don't have to buy everything. The Iro will then become the beater that it was originally meant to be. I already have some cheapies to replace the components that I'll be switching over to the new bike.

It's always exciting to be working on a new project and more than anything, I'm looking forward to the prospect of riding something more comfortable.

My eggbeaters arrived today

Shoes are on the way, thanks to a gift certificate that I had been saving.

Looking forward to ditching the backpack, for a saddlebag.

                                             Two examples of the Nature Boy

I highly doubt that I will be riding drops, but I don't think I'll use my riser or flat bars either. 

Time to investigate new handlebar options.